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vegetables on the side

July 10, 2011

I have made up for a childhood of hating most vegetables in adulthood and love them in abundance. In summer I want salads at most meals, and in winter I love cooked vegetables.

My favourite way of eating vegetables in winter is simply oven roasted mixed vegetables. Olive oil, garlic (or not), herbs, salt (or smoked salt) and then to roast them until the outer flesh is slightly caramelised and the inner flesh is nice and soft.

I also like to think of ways to wake up and add flavour to simple vegetables.

As this has become such a popular post, I have decided to keep it updated with more recent recipes for side vegetables.

This light and fluffy cauliflower ‘cous-cous’ is a perfect addition to a low GI eating regime and will fool you into thinking youare eating a carbohydrate.

carrots glazed with maple syrup and orange

glazed with maple syrup and orange

Peel baby carrots or young carrots and slice to the desired thickness. Blanch in a pot of salted boiling water for about 5 minutes and then drain in a colander. Heat a knob of butter in a non stick frying pan and add the carrots and toss around until the skin just starts to blister and caramelise. At this point drizzle over a few tablespoons of maple syrup, juice of half an orange (or less if its a small quantity of carrots) and zest of half an orange. Allow the liquid to cook off and then serve.

The maple syrup and the orange zest add a fabulous flavour dimension to the crunchy sweet carrots.

mushrooms stuffed with garlic butter, goats cheese and chives

mushrooms stuffed with garlic butter and goats cheese

Pre heat the oven to 200 C. Place your black mushrooms, smooth side down on an oven tray. Place a tablespoon of garlic butter (I used a garlic and parsley butter) into each mushroom and about a tablespoon of goats cheese and spread this over. bake in the oven for about 15 – 20 minutes until the mushrooms are baked and the cheese has started to go a golden brown.

Scatter over chopped chives and serve as a fabulous side dish or on its own with a salad and some nice bread.

broccoli tossed in balsamic vinegar and sprinkled with parmesan

broccoli tossed in balsamic vinegar and parmesan

This is a an easy and quick way to add a bit of punch to steamed broccoli. Steam the broccoli and when it is done (al dente) toss it in a bowl with balsamic vinegar and sprinkle over grated parmesan. Season well with sea salt and ground black pepper. You could also add dried chilli flakes if you felt like a bit of heat.